KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — Ischaemic heart diseases remained the principal cause of death last year, comprising 16 per cent of deaths in Malaysia, up from 14 per cent in 2017.
The following top four causes of death in Malaysia in 2018 were pneumonia (11.8 per cent), cerebrovascular diseases (7.8 per cent), road traffic accidents (3.7 per cent), and chronic lower respiratory diseases (2.6 per cent), according to the Statistics Department.
A total of 18,267 people in Malaysia died last year from ischaemic heart disease, averaging 50 deaths a day. This comprised 12,510 men and 5,757 women.
The 2018 rate of cerebrovascular diseases, which include stroke and aneurysms, causing death increased slightly from 7.1 per cent in 2017 to 7.8 per cent in 2018. The 2.6 per cent rate of chronic lower respiratory diseases, including illnesses like chronic bronchitis and asthma, leading to fatalities in 2018 was higher than the 2017 rate of 2 per cent.
Ischaemic heart diseases, which can lead to a heart attack, was the number one killer of men in Malaysia in 2018 at 17.8 per cent, while women in the country mainly died from pneumonia at 12.8 per cent last year.
The top five causes of death for women in Malaysia in 2018 were pneumonia, ischaemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, breast cancer, and diabetes.
Men in Malaysia last year primarily died from ischaemic heart diseases, pneumonia, cerebrovascular diseases, transport accidents, and chronic lower respiratory diseases.
The principal causes of death in 2018 in Malaysian cities were ischaemic heart diseases (15.9 per cent), pneumonia (11.5 per cent), cerebrovascular diseases (7.3 per cent), transport accidents (3.5 per cent), and lung cancer (2.6 per cent).
In rural areas in Malaysia, the main causes of death last year were ischaemic heart diseases (15 per cent), pneumonia (12.3 per cent), cerebrovascular diseases (8.7 per cent), transport accidents (4.2 per cent), and chronic lower respiratory diseases (3.7 per cent).
Ischaemic heart diseases were the number one killer of Bumiputera, Chinese, and Indians. Ischaemic heart disease as a cause of death recorded a 1.5 percentage points increase and 2.3 percentage points increase in urban and rural areas respectively.
The main causes of death by age group were pneumonia for those aged 14 and below at 4.8 per cent, transport accidents for those aged 15 to 40 at 20.4 per cent, and ischaemic heart diseases for those aged 41 and above at 35.8 per cent.
Complicating pregnancy, childbirth and puerperium were recorded last year as the principal causes of maternal deaths in Malaysia.
